Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to encourage the use by radiologists of UK guidelines for the management of soft tissue sarcomas, published in 2016 by Clinical Sarcoma Research.

We have no plans to do so. As a direct commissioner of both soft tissue and bone sarcoma services, NHS England and NHS Improvement require that all commissioned providers must meet the standards contained within national service specifications and comply with associated clinical commissioning policies, which set out access to specific interventions.

Where clinicians consider that there is evidence which supports making amendments to national service standards or access policies, they are encouraged to submit proposals to NHS England and NHS Improvement.